Marking the beginning of yet another pilgrimage season, doors of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will open for the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku season on November 15.
Outgoing head priest V.K. Jayaraj Potti will open the sanctum sanctorum in the presence of chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Mahesh Mohanararu at 5 p.m. This will be followed by the opening of the upadevata temples and transferring of the scared fire to the aazhi.
Later in the day, the installation of newly selected melsanthis for the Ayyappa temple and the Malikappuram Devi temple will be performed. The new melsanthis will hold charge of their respective temples for the next one year.
The Mandala puja festival this year is from November 16 to December 26, while the temple will reopen for the Makaravilakku festival from December 30 to January 20 next year.
Devotees, who have booked for darsan through the virtual queue system, will be permitted entry to the temple from November 16. After the Makaravilakku festival on January 14, the temple will be closed on January 20.
Safe Zone project
The Sabarimala Safe Zone Project by the Motor Vehicles Department, which aims at bringing down vehicular accidents along the trunk roads leading to the temple, will begin on Friday.
At a function to be held at Elavunkal, Transport Minister Antony Raju will inaugurate the event. The function will be followed by a meeting to review the traffic and parking facilities for the pilgrims. Transport Secretary Biju Prabhakar, Transport Commissioner M.R. Ajith Kumar, officials of the KSRTC and District Collector Divya S. Iyer will attend.
Authorities are expecting a sharp rise in the arrival of devotees this season as entry to the temple was restricted last year due to the pandemic situation.
Arrangements have been made for parking of vehicles carrying pilgrims at the Nilackal base camp. After parking the vehicle at the designated location, devotees are required to board the Pampa-Nilackal chain services operated by the KSRTC.
In case of the drivers staying back, pilgrims may be dropped at Pampa before returning to the parking lot.
Verification of slots booked in the virtual queue will be carried out at the counter near the Ganpathi Kovil. The devotees are also required to keep a copy of their vaccination certificate or result of the RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours.
Pilgrims trekking up the hillock are required to use the Swami Ayyappan Road instead of the Neelimala and Apachimedu roads. No overnight stay of pilgrims will be allowed at Pampa or Sannidhanam. A strict ban on alcohol and tobacco products has been imposed in the pilgrimage zone.
